Fei’s turn to look ashamed. “My family has lost much face over this.”
“That a fancy way of saying your father?”
“Yes.”
“So Culbart thinks he made a deal, fair and square?”
“No one has right to buy another.”
“I agree, but that doesn’t change the man’s belief that you just stole something from him.”
“I will go to the claim and get his gold.”
“I think the opportunity to make a deal is pretty much dead and gone.”
“He will want the money.”
“By the time you get that gold cashed out, you’re going to have every yahoo in the territory on your tail.”
“For this, I have you.”
Shit. “For a plan that stupid, you’re going to need the whole U.S. Army.”
“The army that doesn’t like you?”
Shadow nodded. “That would be the one.”
“Then there is no choice. We go to the claim.”
“Only if you want to kiss your gold goodbye. You won’t be able to go back there until things calm down. Likely for a few months. The claim is too close to the Culbart ranch. There’s no place to hide the horses. No way to hide your presence there. And unless you’ve got a supply of jerky there, there’s no way to cook without the smell carrying.”
Lin gasped. “You think they hunt us?”
“I’d bet my horse on it.”
She exchanged a glance with Fei. “We must go home.”
“That’s the first place they’ll look for you.”
“Uncle is there alone,” Lin countered.
“Is this the uncle that sold you to Culbart?”
“Yes.”
“I’m having a hard time working up to concern.”
“He is ill.”
“So?”
Fei made a motion with her hands. “In his head. He does not always know where he is, what he does.”
He didn’t care how crazy he got, Shadow couldn’t see himself selling his niece. “No.”
Fei’s chin came up. “He is my father. I have a daughter’s duty.”
He noticed she wasn’t making a claim of love. “And I’m your husband, which means I have a few duties of my own.”
“And that duty extends to my family.”
“It does?”
“If you claim the role you must claim it all.”
“All or nothing?”
“Yes.”
He turned Night south, toward her house. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
T HERE WAS NOTHING LEFT of the small house and barn except smoking ruins.
“No, no. Oh, no!”
Fei slipped from the saddle and ran to the barn, dropping to her knees in front of the collapsed beams. Lin followed more slowly. Shadow urged Night over, taking in the scene. Smoke hung in the air in an acrid cloud, along with the odor of charred flesh. Animal or human, it was hard to tell. A lot of anger went behind this much destruction. Lin didn’t look the type to instill such passion in a man, but some men could be funny when it came to their possessions. Shadow swung down from the saddle, dropping Night’s reins to the ground, effectively tying him.
Suddenly Fei jumped to her feet and lunged toward the ruins. He barely caught her before she burned herself on the smoking timbers. Her shoulders were delicate, fragile beneath his hands.
“My father!”
The stench of charred flesh took on a more sinister connotation. Shit, had her father been in there?
“There’s nothing to know, honey. If your father was in there… There’s nothing left.”
“He was in the barn.”
Lin covered her mouth with her hands and shuddered.
“How do you know?”
“I locked him in.”
Way too slender to take on that kind of guilt.
“Why?”
“He lost his mind, but not his skill. He would believe strange things. Do strange things. I couldn’t trust him.”
“Not to blow something up?”
She nodded.
“Oh, Fei, it was you,” Lin whispered.
Fei nodded.
“All this time?”
Another nod. “We needed the money.”
Shadow looked between the two girls. “What are you two talking about?”
There was another of those looks between the cousins that gave him the uneasies. Turning Fei so she faced him, he asked, “What did you do?”
“I pretended to be my father. I did his work.”
He couldn’t believe what he was
“That a fancy way of saying your father?”
“Yes.”
“So Culbart thinks he made a deal, fair and square?”
“No one has right to buy another.”
“I agree, but that doesn’t change the man’s belief that you just stole something from him.”
“I will go to the claim and get his gold.”
“I think the opportunity to make a deal is pretty much dead and gone.”
“He will want the money.”
“By the time you get that gold cashed out, you’re going to have every yahoo in the territory on your tail.”
“For this, I have you.”
Shit. “For a plan that stupid, you’re going to need the whole U.S. Army.”
“The army that doesn’t like you?”
Shadow nodded. “That would be the one.”
“Then there is no choice. We go to the claim.”
“Only if you want to kiss your gold goodbye. You won’t be able to go back there until things calm down. Likely for a few months. The claim is too close to the Culbart ranch. There’s no place to hide the horses. No way to hide your presence there. And unless you’ve got a supply of jerky there, there’s no way to cook without the smell carrying.”
Lin gasped. “You think they hunt us?”
“I’d bet my horse on it.”
She exchanged a glance with Fei. “We must go home.”
“That’s the first place they’ll look for you.”
“Uncle is there alone,” Lin countered.
“Is this the uncle that sold you to Culbart?”
“Yes.”
“I’m having a hard time working up to concern.”
“He is ill.”
“So?”
Fei made a motion with her hands. “In his head. He does not always know where he is, what he does.”
He didn’t care how crazy he got, Shadow couldn’t see himself selling his niece. “No.”
Fei’s chin came up. “He is my father. I have a daughter’s duty.”
He noticed she wasn’t making a claim of love. “And I’m your husband, which means I have a few duties of my own.”
“And that duty extends to my family.”
“It does?”
“If you claim the role you must claim it all.”
“All or nothing?”
“Yes.”
He turned Night south, toward her house. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
T HERE WAS NOTHING LEFT of the small house and barn except smoking ruins.
“No, no. Oh, no!”
Fei slipped from the saddle and ran to the barn, dropping to her knees in front of the collapsed beams. Lin followed more slowly. Shadow urged Night over, taking in the scene. Smoke hung in the air in an acrid cloud, along with the odor of charred flesh. Animal or human, it was hard to tell. A lot of anger went behind this much destruction. Lin didn’t look the type to instill such passion in a man, but some men could be funny when it came to their possessions. Shadow swung down from the saddle, dropping Night’s reins to the ground, effectively tying him.
Suddenly Fei jumped to her feet and lunged toward the ruins. He barely caught her before she burned herself on the smoking timbers. Her shoulders were delicate, fragile beneath his hands.
“My father!”
The stench of charred flesh took on a more sinister connotation. Shit, had her father been in there?
“There’s nothing to know, honey. If your father was in there… There’s nothing left.”
“He was in the barn.”
Lin covered her mouth with her hands and shuddered.
“How do you know?”
“I locked him in.”
Way too slender to take on that kind of guilt.
“Why?”
“He lost his mind, but not his skill. He would believe strange things. Do strange things. I couldn’t trust him.”
“Not to blow something up?”
She nodded.
“Oh, Fei, it was you,” Lin whispered.
Fei nodded.
“All this time?”
Another nod. “We needed the money.”
Shadow looked between the two girls. “What are you two talking about?”
There was another of those looks between the cousins that gave him the uneasies. Turning Fei so she faced him, he asked, “What did you do?”
“I pretended to be my father. I did his work.”
He couldn’t believe what he was
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